Oh my God, did you know that it’s Loyalty Day!?
Well, actually, that’s only true for some of our readers. I’m very proud to say that we have readers spread across the world. We even have a bureau in Brazil, which is headed up by Alexandre Rothier.
So, it’s not Loyalty Day for everyone. In fact, a lot of the world’s citizens are celebrating May Day today. However, here in the United States, it’s Loyalty Day. Even if you are an American, it’s possible that you’ve never heard of Loyalty Day. It was first celebrated in 1921 and it was intended to provide a non-Communist alternative to International Workers Day. It wasn’t until 1955 that Loyalty Day was officially recognized by Congress.
Loyalty Day is defined as follows in 36 U.S.C. § 115:
- (a) Designation.— May 1 is Loyalty Day.
- (b) Purpose.— Loyalty Day is a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.
- (c) Proclamation.— The President is requested to issue a proclamation—
- (1) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Loyalty Day; and
- (2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Loyalty Day with appropriate ceremonies in schools and other suitable places.
In honor of this day, my sister and I woke up this morning and the first thing we did was sing the most pro-American song that we could think of.
Which song was that?
This one!
America — FUCK YEAH! Happy Loyalty Day, American readers!
Through the Shattered Lens 
May Day is a huge event here in Minneapolis — well, in our neighborhood (Powderhorn Park), to be specific. They’ve been having a big parade, vendors, booths, puppets,food, all that for 40-some years. No chain businesses are allowed! Everybody’s there from the local socialist, green, communist, libertarian, polyamorous, LGBT, Wiccan, Buddhist, Humanist, Unitarian/Universalist, etc. groups to various labor, immigration, ecological, anti-corporate, and anti-globalization groups. In a way, though — and you’ll never here me say this about this crowd in any other context — the bravest guy is the one guy who mans the local Republican party booth out there. No one stops by — which is better than having folks stopping by and giving him shit, I suppose — and he just sits there with some party propaganda year in, year out, hoping someone picks it up or even just talks to him. I think I shall stop by his booth today and ask him if he’s heard of this “Loyalty Day” thing — because I can guarantee nobody else out there has,
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I honestly hadn’t heard of Loyalty Day (or Law Day, for that matter) until last night, when I looked up May 1st on Wikipedia. 🙂 Apparently, every day is a holiday now.
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The Republican booth was gone this year — along with what I presume to be our neighborhood’s only Republican. So I couldn’t ask him if he’d heard of this “Loyalty Day” thing, either.Ah well, if Trump wins, I’m sure he’ll have his birthday declared a national holiday, and that’s one we’ll all know about —
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